Monday, September 17, 2012

Don’t have a cow, It’s Meatless Monday!

With this week coming to a close, and next week right around
the corner, I find myself excited for Monday to begin. Why’s that?
It’s because I am excited to start my week off with a challenge to
improve myself. It may sound cheesy, but
you’ll know what I’m talking about if you have taken the Meatless Monday
pledge.

Why is Meatless Monday so important? I have wondered that
myself as I have hungrily waited in line for my pork fried rice at exhibition,
knowing that I’ll have to ask for tofu because it’s Monday. But after researching the facts, I feel proud
about my decision to go meatless for one day a week.

Did you know that meat products have high concentrations of
saturated fats that can lead to heart disease, cancer, and obesity? I didn’t.
But I learned that replacing meat with beans, nuts, peas and seeds (all
which have lower amounts of saturated fats than meat) is a much healthier way
to get a sustaining protein.

To go along with that, cutting out meat in your diet will
reduce your carbon footprint. If
everyone with a meal plan went meatless on Monday, IC would save 2,581,000
gallons of water and 68,637,200 calories of fossil fuels. The facts are
shocking! Want to know more specifics on
these numbers? Visit www.meatlessmonday.com/the-math-behind-meatless-monday

I never thought that I could have the motivation to go
meatless. I come from a family who
believes that anyone who is vegetarian must have never tasted real,
good-tasting meat. However, I feel
strongly that after learning how cutting out meat ONCE a week can be beneficial,
people may change their minds about eating so much meat. I encourage everyone to check out the facts
and challenge themselves to a weekly goal of cutting out meat once a week.

-Jackie

If you need more help figuring out how to eat meatless, we
have the help you need! Our Nutrition
interns, Anna and Emily, provide tours of our dining halls to help students
learn where the most nutritious/vegetarian/vegan/gluten free options are!
Contact them at diningnutrition@ithaca.edu
if you have questions about eating healthy on campus or if you are interested in taking their tour